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Opponent Tracker: Week 2 Results for BYU’s 2012 Opponents

There were some big
wins by the Brigham Young Cougars’ opponents this week, making their strength
of schedule a little more impressive and their upcoming games a little more
anticipated.

WashingtonState
(1-1): Won over Eastern Washington, 24-20.
Mike Leach gets his first win as the WashingtonState coach. However, Eastern Washington still had a chance in the fourth
quarter. This does not make WashingtonState look impressive.
However, the title of Pac-12 member helps voters think BYU’s win over
Washington State was significant. One interesting item from this game was
Kicker Andrew Furney, the only Washington State Cougar to score during last
week’s game in Provo,
booted a 60-yard field goal. The kid has a leg. Unfortunately, if the star of
your team is a kicker, you probably won’t win a lot of games.

Next game: UNLV,
Sept 15.

WeberState
(0-2): Lost to BYU, 45-13. We all saw the game, read the recaps and know the
outcome. WeberState was an inferior opponent, but it
allowed Brigham Young some time to prepare and rest up for Utah.

Next game: McNeeseState, Sept 15.

Utah (1-1): Lost 27-20 in OT to UtahState.
Utah looked
awful to start the game. They didn’t have any energy out of the gate, while UtahState
rode the energy of its fans. The Utes didn’t start looking decent until
quarterback Jordan Wynn reinjured his shoulder and left the game. Jon Hays
looked better than Wynn, and helped lead a comeback to tie it up, but it wasn’t
enough in overtime. It will be interesting to see if this game helps motivate Utah to come back with
vengeance, or if it demoralizes them for next week.

Next game: BYU,
Sept. 15.

BoiseState
(0-1) Did not play, bye week.

Next game: Miami (OH) Sept. 15

Hawaii (0-1):
Did not play, bye week.

Next game: Lamar,
Sept 16

UtahState
(2-0): Beat Utah,
27-20 in OT. The Aggies came out on fire in this game. They forced turnovers,
three-and-outs, blocked punts and had the Utes on their heels. Then they didn’t
score for over 35 minutes of game time. While the win was exciting for the
team, it was not necessarily impressive. Utah
played sloppy and gave UtahState the game by their
lack of energy. So the verdict on UtahState is not out yet.
We’ll wait for their judgment until after the next game when they head to Madison, Wis.
They did receive one vote in the AP poll, which is some sort of consolation
prize.

Next game: at
Wisconsin,
Sept 15.

OregonState
(1-0): Beat No. 13 Wisconsin
10-7. The Beavers held Monte Ball scoreless for the first time in 22 games and
held the entire Wisconsin team scoreless until
1:31 to go in the game.
Last year, Wisconsin
thumped OregonState 35-0. Either Wisconsin is a lot worse this year, OregonState
is a lot better, or a little of both. OregonState
received quite a few votes in the AP poll this week, and is sitting in the
unofficial No. 29 spot. A win in their next game will likely get them ranked.

Next game: at
No. 22 UCLA (who also had a big upset over No. 16 Nebraska) Sept 22.

No. 20 Notre Dame
(2-0): Defeated Purdue, 20-17. Former Starter Tommy Reese came off the bench to
lead the game winning drive, as Notre Dame kicked a field goal with 7 seconds
to go to win the game. The win moved the Irish up two spots in the polls to No.
20. Once again, it is yet to be determined how good Notre Dame is. They haven’t
played a real quality opponent yet. We will soon find out though, as they head
to East Lansing
next week.

Next game: No.
10 MichiganState, Sept. 15

Georgia Tech
(1-1): Beat Presbyterian, 59-3. Georgia
Tech held their opponent scoreless untill the fourth quarter. They also racked up 712 yards of offensive
production. It’s hard to tell how impressive this is though as Presbyterian is
an FCS team.

Next game: Virginia
Sept. 15.

Idaho (0-2): Lost 21-13 to Bowling Green. Don’t plan
on Idaho
helping BYU’s strength of schedule at any point this season.

Next game: No.
3 LSU. Things just get worse for the Vandals.

San JoseState
(1-1): Defeated UC Davis 45-13. Bounced back nicely after a tough loss to No.
21 Stanford, even if it was against an FCS
team.

Next game: ColoradoState, Sept 15.

New MexicoState
(1-1): Lost 51-24 to Ohio.
New MexicoState was only down 21-17 in the third
but Ohio
pulled away. Ohio
is a good team, going 10-4 last season. Also, New Mexico State easily handled SacState
last week who just beat Colorado.
New MexicoState could be a little better than last
year, but it probably doesn’t matter in the end.

Next game: UTEP,
Sept 15.

OregonState
and UtahState helped BYU out a little bit
this week in their overall strength of schedule. If they can win again this
week against tough opponents on the road, the Cougars’ schedule will start to
look much more impressive.

Overall record of
opponents: 10-11

The Editor appreciates all feedback. He can be reached via email at bluecougarfootball@gmail.com

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